


Fiery Ash

by Fullofanxiety



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 21:18:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullofanxiety/pseuds/Fullofanxiety
Summary: Roman and Virgil are planning to run away together. But what happens when a monumental tragedy threatens to rip them apart?





	Fiery Ash

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: brief implied death, nightmares, fire mention, smothering risk, ash, crushed mention, building collapsing.

Roman stood in the market with his personal slave as they waited for his  _ Mater _ to return with the things needed for the Fontinalia, the day garlands were placed on all the fountains and wellspring in the city. It was unseasonably hot for early October. So much so that the stones beneath his feet threw the heat back up into his face and making him slightly uncomfortable. 

After a few more minutes, Roman found that there was enough chatter surrounding them that if he were to speak, only someone right next to him would hear him. The thought made a sly smile slide onto his face as he glanced at his personal slave, Virgil. "Do you think you'd be able to make it to our spot tonight?” He asked softly, his eyes on the crowd to make sure no one was eavesdropping. His mind flashed back to memories of building their place and moments shared between them there. 

Virgil kept his eyes low enough to not look directly at any of the Roman citizens but also to not be looking straight down. “I think so?” He whispered back, his lips barely moving. 

Roman suppressed the giddy, lovestruck look that he so wanted to express but couldn't for fear of repercussions and nodded slightly. "Good. Good." He really hoped Virgil was able to make it. He really wanted to spend time with him. 

Roman began to play with his tunic impatiently. He just wanted his mother to hurry. The sooner everything was done, the sooner he got to spend some time in his lover's arms. He wanted to spend his life in Virgil's arms forever. If only the world wasn't so cruel so that he may hold his darling love in his arms every night and be held through every day. So that they didn't have to hide their love for fear of death. He just wanted to be with Virgil forever. 

Roman's mind flashed back to their first kiss. 

\------

"Roman. Roman!" Roman jumped as slim, pale fingers snapped in front of his face and brought him back to reality with a jolt.

Roman rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry." 

Virgil rolled his eyes as he sat back against the small hideout. "Yeah, I think I noticed that." Roman rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he chuckled. "What were you spacing out on?" 

Roman froze.  _ What was he spacing out on? _ He wasn't sure if he should answer that. He had been listening to what Virgil was saying, something about how this one young girl was being forced to marry this old man from Rome. But at some point, a little bit after Virgil was talking about the one Patrician that was training with the gladiators and flirting with the young girl and the young  _ medicus _ , Roman stopped listening as he focused on the way the light shone on his friend's face. Shadows danced across the others face as he told Roman about….whatever. All Roman knew was that Virgil was incredibly beautiful and stunning. 

Roman wondered how he had never noticed just how  _ blue _ Virgil's eyes were before. They were so pretty and they reminded him of the sparkling water in the fountains around the city. They set magnificent. They were windows, carefully guarded windows that only seemed to open up for him. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. As Roman spaced out, he realized just how much  _ emotion _ he felt towards Virgil. Suddenly, it all made sense. Like a picture finally becoming clear, or blind eyes finally being able to see the world. 

_ Virgil!  _ Just his name sent delicious chills through him.  _ Virgil!  _ His closest friend since childhood.  _ Virgil! _ The only person who know just how much he hated the thought of slaves and punishments.  _ Virgil!  _ The first one he told of his feelings towards men.  _ Virgil!  _ The only one besides Patton and Logan who could see through his mask.  _ Virgil!  _ The one who he was so incredibly and deeply in love with that it seemed as if this was destiny. 

Could he really tell Virgil why he was spacing? Roman looked into Virgil's eyes, ready to tell him a lie when he suddenly heard himself telling Virgil everything. He blinked, wide eyed and froze. His heart beat rapidly as he watched Virgil's reaction. 

The other sat frozen. Roman waited with baited breath as he waited for a response, a reaction, anything from Virgil. Slowly, ever so slowly, a red tint spread across Virgil's skin. His mouth opened and closed, no noise coming out. Roman melted as he watched his love fumble with his words. "Virgil," he whispered. 

Virgil stopped and looked into Roman's literal heart eyes, his mouth clamped shut. Roman leaned closer and cupped Virgil's cheek softly. "Can I?" He asked quietly. 

Virgil glanced down at the others lips. "I-" his thoughts ran at a mile a minute. "But I'm a slave," he responded. 

Roman shook his head. As if that mattered to him. "So?" Roman asked,“How does that change who you are?" He cupped Virgil's face in his hands. "I feel for you, Virgil. Your personality, is what makes you, you, not your status. I love you, for you. Your status has nothing to do with it." 

Virgil stared at Roman, his eyes wide with wonder. "I- I don't know what to say." 

Roman smiled fondly at him. "May I?" 

Virgil felt a giddy feeling run through him. "I-ye-I mean if you want." 

That was all it took for Roman to surged forward and pull Virgil's face to his, their lips pressed together in an awkward, but loving kiss. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Nothing but Virgil in his arms. And Roman in Virgil's, right where he belonged. 

\-------

Roman smiled at the memory. He was so excited for tonight. 

\------

Roman sighed as he stared at the stars littering the night sky above him as Virgil ran his slim fingers through the curly brown hair on top of his head. Roman loved it. He wanted to be able to feel like this all the time. He wanted to feel Virgil play with his hair every night before bed. Not once every week. He wanted more. No. He  _ needed _ more. He would do anything so they could be together. Really together. 

"What's on your mind, my love?" Virgil asked as he twirled Roman's hair between his fingers. "I can tell it's eating you up. Tell me. You don't have to suffer alone." Roman sighed and looked down at his hand as it played with Virgil's other. The others voice flowing smoothly through his ears. He felt a small fond smile grace his lips as he listened to Virgil's heartbeat. 

He loved this side of Virgil. He loved it because he was so soft and caring. He was so loving and protective. He could pick up on any little bit of distress Roman was going through. He was thoughtful and so so perfect. Roman loved it. He absolutely adored it. But his most favorite thing about this side of Virgil, was that it was all his. No one else's. This was his Virgil. The thought made him feel all gooey inside like he was a batch of soft dough, moments before being put into the oven to bake. 

Roman took a deep breath and moved, turning around to face Virgil and taking his hands in his own, ready to have this conversation. "Virgil, I love you, so so much and I don't know what I would do without you. I want to spend my life with you. I want to be with you forever. I never want to leave you."

Virgil smiled sadly at Roman. "Ro, I love you too, but, you know that isn't possible." 

Roman shook his head. "No! That's wrong! It is possible, V! We can run away. We can run until we're no longer controlled by Rome! We'll settle down in some new place where we can be ourselves and live together forever!" Tears ran down Roman's cheeks as he proclaimed his idea to his love. 

Virgil's own eyes filled with tears of possibilities. So many possibilities. The thought of no longer being a slave and being able to spend his days with Roman was his greatest dream. But, things weren't that easy. Reality got in the way. And, unfortunately, Virgil had to bring Roman down with him. "Roman, what about your home and your friends! This is your home, this is where your friends are! Roman you can't just run off with a slave. You've got other people to worry about and care for. You've got people here to love you. You can't just leave!"

Roman shook his head as he grinned. "No! Its okay! I talked to Logan and Patton! They'll run with us. We'll live together. We'll be happy! I love this city. I do, it's my home. But Virgil, no place is home without you. So long as you're with me, any place can be my home." Roman moved to cup Virgil's face in his hands. "You're my world. I want nothing more than you. I love you, Virgil." 

Tears spilled from Virgil's eyes as he leaned his forehead against Roman's. He let out a wet laugh. "I love you too, Roman." 

Roman smiled and he leaned forward to place a kiss to Virgil's lips. "We leave tomorrow. Mid-day. Pack your things tonight and be ready." 

Virgil smiled fondly. "I will, love." They shared one final kiss before they went back to their respective places. Virgil, the slave quarters. Roman, his bedroom. Tomorrow, they would run. Tomorrow, would be the start of a new life. Tomorrow would be the start of their greatest dreams. 

\-----

Virgil was in the middle of packing when he felt a presence behind him appear out of thin air. He froze in his sandals. "What do you think you're doing?" A dark even voice growled through the slowly lighting early morning twilight. Virgil's body began to tremble as he was roughly turned around by a calloused hand. His heart leapt into his throat at the furious face of  _ Dominus _ , his master, also known as Roman's father. The older Roman gripped Virgil's shoulder tightly, his fingernails biting into Virgil's skin. "Were you planning on running away,  _ boy _ !?!?" 

Virgil's throat closed up as he looked into the anger filled eyes of the man who owned him. He whimpered. "Answer me,  _ boy _ !!!!!" Spit flew from the old man's mouth and hit him in the face. His owner’s patience wore thin and he dragged Virgil by the scruff of his neck into the dungeon where he punished slaves. "You will learn to obey me,  _ boy! _ " He growled as he chained Virgil's wrists to the wall, his feet dangling a good five inches off the floor, and left him there. Tears slipped from Virgil's eyes as the cold metal cuffs dug into his bony wrists. 

_ "I knew it was too good to be true." _ Virgil muttered bitterly. The tears started to fall faster. "I can't believe I screwed this up. This was for Roman! And I screwed it up!" Virgil squeezed his eyes shut as tears flowed from his eyes, creating rivers on his cheeks. The ground rumbled, dust and small rocks raining down from the ceiling. Virgil ignored as he sobbed silently to himself. "Roman's better off without me," he whispered hopelessly. The ground shook again, the small earthquakes that had become quite regular over the past few months having no effect on the young slave as he let his dark thoughts swirl around him and shove themselves down his throat, closing off his source of air as something stirred beneath the ground. 

\-----

Roman awoke early the next morning and checked his overnight bag that he would be using when he ran with Virgil. The plan he had come up with Patton and Logan was brilliant. He would tell his father he would be spending the evening his friends Patton and Logan, thus explaining his overnight bag. And of course, he never went anywhere without his personal slave, Virgil, who would come along and stay the night in the slave quarters with Logan's and Patton's slaves. His father wouldn't expect a thing. By the time his parents discovered his disappearance, he would be long gone with Virgil, Patton, and Logan. Nothing could go wrong. 

Roman stumbled as he went down to breakfast with his parents. The quakings of the earth were getting stronger. It worried him. Would there be another great earthquake? He shook his head and walked into the room to sit on his couch and eat breakfast when he noticed something quite peculiar. The slave behind his couch was not his personal slave. This was one of the household slaves. He frowned and turned to his father. 

"I had to chain your personal slave up this morning. He was trying to make a run for it." 

Roman had to suppress the horrified expression trying to creep its way into his face. "Roman, you really need to keep it under more control." Roman grit his teeth. Virgil was not an  _ it.  _ Roman's father, thankfully, didn't notice. "You're mother and I are going to the market today, try not to burn down our villa while we're gone." With that, Roman was alone with the household slave behind him.

Roman jumped up and ran to his room, leaving the slave bewildered. He hurriedly grabbed his things and left to go to his Patton and Logan's villa. The earth's shaking got more violent each time. However, Roman wasn't paying attention. All he could think of was getting to his friend's so he could plan on freeing Virgil and running. He wasn't about to let his father tear them apart. 

\------

"You can get Virgil and meet us, here, on the road leading out of the city. I suggest going through the forest, no one should be able to see you that way." Roman nodded along to Logan's words, hearing them, but not hearing them. He was too worried about Virgil. His father hasn't exactly elaborated on what he had done. If he had just chained Virgil to the wall or if he had whipped him too. He grimaced. If his father had whipped his love, it would be a lot harder for them to make it out of the city unnoticed. 

Roman snapped out of it when a soft hand was placed on his own, squeezing it comfortingly. He glanced up into the eyes of his bubbly friend, Patton. "Roman, don't worry. We'll free him. And then, we'll run and you'll be able to protect from harm for the rest of your life." Roman smiled slightly at Patton. 

A loud thundering rumble shook the ground and the three men heard screams echo throughout the previously still air. The three raced to the window and look out towards the direction of the sound. Roman's eyes widened in disbelief in horror. The top of the mountain! It was gone! In its place, a great plume of dark billowing clouds blew up out of usually peaceful mountain. It looked like a palm tree of smoke had come in and took away the mountain top. "An Earth-born fire," Logan breathed. 

Roman eyebrows screwed together as he frowned. "What?" He asked his scholarly friend. 

Logan turned to him with him with the most serious expression on his face that Roman had ever seen. Which was saying a lot since Logan always seemed to have a serious expression on his face. "Roman. We need to hurry up and free Virgil and get out of here. Strabo wrote of an earth-born fire that devastated the land surrounding it. Almost like a mountain that spewed fire."

"W-what?" Roman croaked, fear gripping at his vocal cords as he processed his friends words. 

"Logan?" Patton called. "What does that have to do with Mount Vesuvius?" 

"I think that Mount Vesuvius may be one of those mountains that breathes fire. We need to leave immediately." 

The three men hurriedly packed as much as they could carry and raced outside to find the dark cloud of smoky ash spreading out over the sky until it blotted out the sun, the day became dark like the night. A crash sounded as a ball of white hot rock flung out of the mountain and slammed into a villa next to them. Screams sounded out through the ash filled the air as rocks exploded out of the mountain and crashing into homes and statues, causing great flames to engulf structures as the three raced to Roman's home amongst hundreds of others who ran for their lives as the world seemingly ended before their very eyes. Roman raced through the villa watching as dust and ash snowed around him, covering plants and rocks, blanketing the ground in a layer of rock and ash. 

"Hurry Roman! We gotta get out of here before the ash buries us!" 

Roman raced toward the structure his Virgil was locked in when a sharp whistle filled the air. Suddenly, Roman was knocked to the ground by his friends and he the light of fire reflected in his eyes as a chunk of the mountain crashed through the roof of the dungeon, the structure collapsing before his eyes. Roman layer frozen for a moment as he tried to wrap his brain around what exactly just happened. He barely noticed as a chunk from the rubble scraped his cheek, blood trickling from the cut. 

The sounds of fire and rumbling faded out as he stared ahead at the crumbled ruins of what once was the place where his Virgil was locked away. He barely noticed the tears. He barely noticed as his friends got off of him. He let out an ear-shattering scream. " _ VIRGIL! NO! NO! NONONONONO!!!!" _ Roman crawled forward and started pulling at the rumble, frantically trying to clear a path, anything to try and save Virgil. As he became aware of the hands grabbing him and pulling him away from the rubble. "No!" He screamed. "I have to save him! I have to-" Roman choked. "I have to save him." 

Logan ripped him up and spun him around to face him. "Roman! We have to go! Virgil wouldn't want you to stay here and die! Okay? We have to go!"

Roman shook his head in despair. "I just wanted him to be free."

\------

Roman thrashed violently on his bed, sheets twisting around his limbs as he whispered and screamed. A thud sounded as Roman fell out of bed. He scrambled backwards into the nearest corner, his hands coming up to twist in his hair as his breathing grew erratic. Panic swirling through his whole being as his eyes blew wide, not seeing anything. His was lost in his own panic filled bubble. 

\-----

Virgil groaned and rolled over as he woke up from a peaceful slumber. He heard a faint whimpering and frowned as he sat up, the covers pooling around his waist as he rubbed his eyes. He blinked, his eyes getting used to the dark. A sharp sob sounded as Virgil noticed the empty space next to him and he jolted out of bed, eyes frantic as he scanned for the source of the sound and found Roman shivering in a corner as he yanked at his hair. 

Virgil slowly crept over to Roman, worrying over how best to approach his shaking boyfriend. "Ro?" He called softly. He kneeled down in front of the other and his face twisted in pain and concern as he watched his love shake with panic. "Roman." Roman's head shot up at the sound of Virgil's voice. Virgil's heart twisted painfully as he noticed Roman was looking through him. He carefully placed his hands on Roman's shoulders in an attempt to ground him. "Roman," 

Roman eyes slowly focused on him and then he froze, staring at Virgil as if he had seen a ghost. "Roman?" Virgil asked cautiously. 

Roman launched himself at Virgil and wrapped his arms tightly around the emo's waist. Virgil startled but held Roman tightly as he rocked his boyfriend back and forth whispering reassurances into Roman's ear as he clung desperately to him. "Roman? Do you want to tell me what upset you?" 

Roman sniffled and snuggled his face deeper into Virgil's neck. "It was a dream," he finally whispered. "A nightmare. You-" he buried his face deeper into his boyfriend's neck. "You- you died!" He sobbed. Virgil looked down at Roman worriedly. 

"I'm so sorry, Roman. Is there anything I can do?" 

"Just hold me." 

Virgil nodded and held him tighter and pressed a kiss to Roman's head. "I'm here, Roman. I'm alive." They stayed that way for a few moments. "You want to get up on the bed and watch some Disney?" Roman nodded and snuggled deeper into Virgil's arms. Virgil smiled fondly and Roman before picking him up and carrying him to the bed. They stayed snuggled together as Disney played on the tv. Soon enough, Roman was asleep. Virgil brushed a stray lock of hair away from his boyfriend's face. Holding him closer as he settled back against the wall prepared to stay awake so he could chase any other nightmares that dared disturb his prince. 

\-------

Roman felt his heart break as he stared at the pile of rubble where the dungeon once stood. He blinked a few times before rushing forward and scrambling through the rubble, despite the calls from his friends and shoved chunks of rock and stone out of the way. His ears picked up on panicked coughing and he quickened his attempts to remove the rubble. After a few moments he found an arm, then a leg, until finally he was pulling Virgil, coughing and panicking out of the rubble. 

"Virgil!" Roman shouted as he held the others face in his hands. He pulled him close and pressed overly happy kisses all over his loves face. "You're alive! You're alive! I'm so happy!" Virgil coughed a few times before he smiled at Roman, dried blood caked on the side of his face from a small gash caused by the collapse. 

Logan cleared his throat and the two lovebirds looked surprisingly embarrassed. "I hate to interrupt but I think we should get going," Another ball of flames exploded a few yards away and the four men all jolted into action, running through the structures of their great city crumbling around them as dust and ash covered them. Screams of men, women, and children sounded out through the dense, thick fog of ash and dust. The four ran through the trees, the leaves protecting them from the ash falling in buckets as the ruins of what once was the city that they loved became buried. 

Eventually, the four came to the first glimpses of sunlight they had seen since before the eruption. They stopped and turned back, overlooking the cloud of ash burying the city of Pompeii. Roman sighed and leaned his head on Virgil's shoulder with a smile. "We get to start over, Virgil," he whispered as he clung to the man he almost lost hours before. Virgil smiled wearily and pressed a kiss to Roman's ash and dirt covered face. The two intertwined their fingers together before turning their backs on Pompeii and walking forward, towards Patton and Logan. Towards their new life. Their life together. Putting the fiery ash behind them, the four journeyed to new places. A place, where Roman and Virgil could finally be together without the pressures of society. And if that meant living away from civilization, then that's what they would do. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think?


End file.
